President Putin’s visit shows Russia still matters a lot to Vietnam 

BANGKOK - Shunned in many parts of the world and ignoring an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Hanoi on June 20 at the invitation of Vietnamese leader Nguyen Phu Trong. This was on the back of

a rare trip to Pyongyang,

where he was met with a rapturous welcome.

While

Mr Putin’s welcome in communist Vietnam

was similarly lavish, its greatest importance was perhaps the message it was sending to the rest of the world.